Quercus robur strain:DF159 Raw sequence reads. Quercus robur strain:DF159

Soil detritivores such as Collembola indirectly impact plant performance via grazing on microorganisms, in particular fungi, and by increasing nutrient availability to plants. This enhances plant growth as well as tissue nutrient concentration. In addition, Collembola change plant root morphology and impact plant gene expression. However, studies linking Collembola-mediated changes in plant gene expression and plant resource allocation are lacking. Therefore, the pathways linking the response of plants at the level of genes with their physiological and morphological response remain unknown. We used an experimental platform comprising pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) microcuttings (clonally propagated seedlings) that display a typical endogenous rhythmic growth with alternating shoot flushes (SF) and root flushes (RF), the ectomycorrhizal fungus (Piloderma croceum) and fungal feeding microarthropods (Protaphorura armata; Collembola). We investigated the transcriptomic response of shoots of oak microcuttings to the presence of mycorrhiza and microarthropods and linked it to changes in resource allocation by pulse labelling the plants with 13C and 15N and tracking their incorporation into above- and belowground tree compartments. The results indicate that oaks recognize the presence of detritivores in the rhizosphere and respond in a complex way by changing the expression of genes of both plant primary and secondary metabolism, resulting in concomitant changes in plant morphology and physiology.

以弹尾虫（Collembola）为代表的土壤食腐动物，可通过取食微生物（尤其是真菌）以及提升植物可利用养分水平，间接影响植物生长表现。这不仅可促进植物生长，还能提升植物组织的养分浓度。此外，弹尾虫还会改变植物根系形态，并影响植物基因表达。然而，目前尚缺乏针对弹尾虫介导的植物基因表达变化与植物资源分配之间关联的研究，因此将植物基因层面响应与其生理及形态响应相关联的作用通路仍不明晰。本研究采用的实验平台包含三类材料：一是具柄栎（Quercus robur L.）的微扦插苗（无性繁殖幼苗），该类幼苗具有典型的内源节律生长特性，会交替经历抽梢期（SF）与发根期（RF）；二是外生菌根真菌绒囊膜菌（Piloderma croceum）；三是取食真菌的小型节肢动物武装原跳虫（Protaphorura armata；Collembola）。我们针对该栎树微扦插苗的地上部分，探究其在菌根与小型节肢动物存在下的转录组响应；并通过对植物进行13C与15N脉冲标记，追踪同位素在植物地上与地下组分中的分配情况，以此关联植物资源分配的变化。研究结果表明，栎树能够识别根际环境中的食腐动物，并通过调控植物初生代谢与次生代谢相关基因的表达产生复杂响应，进而伴随出现植物形态与生理层面的变化。